Five Place at EIWAs: Keith and Peppelman Headed to NCAAs

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Harvard wrestling team finished 10th at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships behind five place winners. Sophomores Steven Keith and Walter Peppelman earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships based on their fourth and fifth-place finishes, respectively.

Keith, the fifth seed at 125 pounds, knocked off No. 20 and third seed Garrett Frey of Princeton, 10-4, to earn a spot in the third-place bout. The win avenged an earlier season lost to Frey at the dual meet. Keith dropped an 8-1 decision in the decisive match to fourth-seed Aaron Kalil of Navy. Kalil was the only person Keith lost to in the tournament, falling twice. Keith heads to his second NCAA Championships with a 22-15 overall record

Peppelman, who was the third seed at 157 pounds, finished fifth after falling in the match to go for third place. Peppelman lost to No. 14 DJ Meagher of Cornell, 9-3. In the fifth-place bout, it only took Peppelman 37 seconds to take care of business, pinning Daniel Kolodzik of Princeton. The co-captain heads to his first NCAA Championships with a 29-6 overall record.

Senior co-captain Andrew Knapp finished sixth in his final EIWA Championships at 285 pounds. Knapp fell in both his matches Sunday, falling to third-seed Dominick Russo of Rutgers, 5-1, and dropping a close 2-0 decision to the seventh-seed Stryker Lane of Cornell. Sophomore Shay Warren defeated Allen Stein of Navy to earn a spot on the podium. Warren won by fall in 2:35 to finish seventh at 133 pounds. Freshman Cameron Croy, the sixth seed at 184 pounds, finished seventh after pinning eighth-seed Michael Erdman of Princeton.

The 2011 NCAA Championships will be held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa. March 17-19.